Special_K19
11-01-2004, 05:38 PM
Not that I'd ever complain about getting a team back, but this sounds like a very interesting book to read.
Cleveland got team, not time
By Terry Pluto, Beacon Journal sports columnist
I received several calls from fans saying, "I'd rather have an expansion team than a Browns team owned by Art Modell."
Other fans told me, "If this was the price we had to pay to get rid of Modell, it was worth it!"
Some rationalized: "I'm OK with Al Lerner. At least he got Modell out of here."
I kept reminding them that expansion was painful, and it could take years for the team just to be decent. I mentioned I'd rather have the old Browns with a core of some decent players such as Vinny Testaverde, Rob Burnett, Tony Jones, Anthony Pleasant, Stevon Moore, Keenan McCardell, Tom Tupa, and Derrick Alexander. At least it was something to work with; the new Browns had nothing.
Consider that the NFL gave the expansion Houston Texans 1,068 days between the owner being chosen and the first game in 2002. The expansion Carolina Panthers had 677 days before their first game in 1995, the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars had 642 days before their first game in 1995.
The so-called "modern era" of football is generally considered to have started in 1960, with the election of NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the creation of the American Football League. Since that time, the NFL has approved 11 expansion franchises. Only two teams -- Dallas (240 days) and New Orleans (320 days) -- were given less time to prepare to play than the Browns.
The NFL has clearly believed that a team requires about two years to hire staff and scout players. The shortest preparation period since the merger (642 days, to Jacksonville) was 273 days -- a full nine months -- longer than the Browns received. No matter how you felt about the Browns coming back, do you understand what the NFL did to your team? How the league treated you with complete disrespect? The extremely short preparation period was purely the creation (and fault) of the NFL. Modell announced his intention to move the Browns on Nov. 6, 1995 -- 1,376 days before the new Browns played their first regular-season game.
On Feb. 8, 1996, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the NFL would guarantee Cleveland a team beginning in 1999 -- either a relocated franchise or an expansion team, at the league's discretion.
Bottom line?
The NFL spent 911 days deciding who should be the next Browns owners. That's an outrage, and it had dramatic implications for the team and fans.
The NFL continued to stall and try to drive up the price while leaving the Cleveland market open as leverage for other teams to use as a threat to move -- to get new stadiums and better leases.
As for the fans?
The NFL assumed you'd be there, no matter what. Buying tickets. Buying jerseys, jackets, and caps. Buying just about anything orange and brown. Even buying PSLs for the right to buy season tickets!
Yes, the NFL gave the Browns extra draft picks between each of the seven rounds, but if the scouts and player personnel people don't have time to do the proper research... well, you end up with what the Browns did for several years.
Had Lerner been granted the franchise in the spring of 1998, Policy could have hired a coach and general manager before the 1998 season, then have them spend that year scouting the college players and pros who would become available in the expansion draft.
"That's what we had in Houston," said Chris Palmer, the first coach of the new Browns and now offensive coordinator with the Houston Texans. "It's a night-and-day difference. I spent a year scouting after leaving Cleveland and our first regular-season game in Houston. We had so much more time to prepare. I wish we could have had this in Cleveland."
Instead, the Browns had to wait until the end of the 1998 season -- basically, January 1999 -- to begin interviewing coaches and general manager candidates. And the expansion draft was Feb. 9, 1999.
Comparing the preparation time to the winning percentage in the first season strongly suggests that there is a correlation between the two. The 1999 Browns -- who had the third-shortest period of time to prepare for their first season -- also had the third-worst winning percentage in their first season.
Want to feel even worse?
Only one expansion general manager (Dallas) had less time to prepare for opening day than new Browns GM Dwight Clark.
Adapted from the book False Start: How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail © 2004 by Terry Pluto. Reprinted with permission of Gray & Company, Publishers. The book is available at Northeast Ohio bookstores and online from Amazon.com. For more information, call the publisher at 1-800-915-3609 or visit their Web site at www.grayco.com.
Cleveland got team, not time
By Terry Pluto, Beacon Journal sports columnist
I received several calls from fans saying, "I'd rather have an expansion team than a Browns team owned by Art Modell."
Other fans told me, "If this was the price we had to pay to get rid of Modell, it was worth it!"
Some rationalized: "I'm OK with Al Lerner. At least he got Modell out of here."
I kept reminding them that expansion was painful, and it could take years for the team just to be decent. I mentioned I'd rather have the old Browns with a core of some decent players such as Vinny Testaverde, Rob Burnett, Tony Jones, Anthony Pleasant, Stevon Moore, Keenan McCardell, Tom Tupa, and Derrick Alexander. At least it was something to work with; the new Browns had nothing.
Consider that the NFL gave the expansion Houston Texans 1,068 days between the owner being chosen and the first game in 2002. The expansion Carolina Panthers had 677 days before their first game in 1995, the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars had 642 days before their first game in 1995.
The so-called "modern era" of football is generally considered to have started in 1960, with the election of NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the creation of the American Football League. Since that time, the NFL has approved 11 expansion franchises. Only two teams -- Dallas (240 days) and New Orleans (320 days) -- were given less time to prepare to play than the Browns.
The NFL has clearly believed that a team requires about two years to hire staff and scout players. The shortest preparation period since the merger (642 days, to Jacksonville) was 273 days -- a full nine months -- longer than the Browns received. No matter how you felt about the Browns coming back, do you understand what the NFL did to your team? How the league treated you with complete disrespect? The extremely short preparation period was purely the creation (and fault) of the NFL. Modell announced his intention to move the Browns on Nov. 6, 1995 -- 1,376 days before the new Browns played their first regular-season game.
On Feb. 8, 1996, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the NFL would guarantee Cleveland a team beginning in 1999 -- either a relocated franchise or an expansion team, at the league's discretion.
Bottom line?
The NFL spent 911 days deciding who should be the next Browns owners. That's an outrage, and it had dramatic implications for the team and fans.
The NFL continued to stall and try to drive up the price while leaving the Cleveland market open as leverage for other teams to use as a threat to move -- to get new stadiums and better leases.
As for the fans?
The NFL assumed you'd be there, no matter what. Buying tickets. Buying jerseys, jackets, and caps. Buying just about anything orange and brown. Even buying PSLs for the right to buy season tickets!
Yes, the NFL gave the Browns extra draft picks between each of the seven rounds, but if the scouts and player personnel people don't have time to do the proper research... well, you end up with what the Browns did for several years.
Had Lerner been granted the franchise in the spring of 1998, Policy could have hired a coach and general manager before the 1998 season, then have them spend that year scouting the college players and pros who would become available in the expansion draft.
"That's what we had in Houston," said Chris Palmer, the first coach of the new Browns and now offensive coordinator with the Houston Texans. "It's a night-and-day difference. I spent a year scouting after leaving Cleveland and our first regular-season game in Houston. We had so much more time to prepare. I wish we could have had this in Cleveland."
Instead, the Browns had to wait until the end of the 1998 season -- basically, January 1999 -- to begin interviewing coaches and general manager candidates. And the expansion draft was Feb. 9, 1999.
Comparing the preparation time to the winning percentage in the first season strongly suggests that there is a correlation between the two. The 1999 Browns -- who had the third-shortest period of time to prepare for their first season -- also had the third-worst winning percentage in their first season.
Want to feel even worse?
Only one expansion general manager (Dallas) had less time to prepare for opening day than new Browns GM Dwight Clark.
Adapted from the book False Start: How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail © 2004 by Terry Pluto. Reprinted with permission of Gray & Company, Publishers. The book is available at Northeast Ohio bookstores and online from Amazon.com. For more information, call the publisher at 1-800-915-3609 or visit their Web site at www.grayco.com.